Hypothetically, if I currently have Japanese Wisteria and plant Chinese Wisteria, will the Chinese variation strangle out the Japanese one? Or vise versa?[/quote]

no they will not, as a matter of fact, I grow about a dozen cultivars of both japanese and chinese wisteria, and they are all interplanted with other plants,

treetoronto wrote:these wisteria plants were planted about 10 years ago and we do not remember what we planted. Either it is Japanese Wisteria or Chinese Wisteria. Not American.

[quote="treetoronto"]

Chinese wisteria spirals clockwise and the japanese cultivars spiral in the opposite direction. The japanese wisteria also has longer flowers, but doesn't seem to be as abundent as the chinese varieties

Gosh Dan, you do have an awesome property, with the most amazing collection of plants.

We just got back from England. Of course, the wrong time to see any wisteria in bloom, but by golly some of the wisteria we saw meandering over hundreds of feet of buildings must be a sight to behold in the spring.

This is just one specimen I couldn't resist taking a pic of. It might be worth a trip in the spring just to see it. But it was only one of many many wisteria we saw.

~BBQ

Zone 5bSouth/Central Ontario

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day ~ Author Unknown

orchidguy wrote:no they will not, as a matter of fact, I grow about a dozen cultivars of both japanese and chinese wisteria, and they are all interplanted with other plants,

Chinese wisteria spirals clockwise and the japanese cultivars spiral in the opposite direction. The japanese wisteria also has longer flowers, but doesn't seem to be as abundent as the chinese varieties

Orchidguy (Dan) it says you are in zone 3b. You seem to have some lovely wisteria growing - I think I am jealous. How low do temps actually get in zone 3b? I am in zone 2b and I don't believe there is any way I could grow wisteria here in Northern Ontario even though there can't be that much of a difference in temps between 2b and 3b. Are you applying a thick layer of some sort of mulch to overwinter your wisterias? It really would be great if I could manage to have some survive. Would there be any wisterias that are more hardy than others?

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me: I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." Albert Camus

Fern,The hardiest wisterias according to professional growers are the cultivars Aunt Dee, floribunda carnea, Clara Mack and of course, Blue Moon, but to be honest with you, I have found these no hardier than other hybrids. I do get a bit of winter die-back on these, which is a blessing, as I never need to prune

I do not cover any plants for the winter, but all exposed garden soil here is mulched with shredded leaves and bark.

I have posted other pics of other varieties on here, and have never had any problem keeping them over our harsh winters. Like the magnolia's, late spring frosts might kill buds and blooms, but I still think worth the effort.

All the wisteria I have planted here, is up against one of the out buildings or greenhouses, and is protected from North and Westerly winter winds. The wisteria are also grown in lean well drained soil, and I use absolutely no chemical fertilizers on them (actually not on any plants here) which produce "watery" fast growth which is easily killed by winter's freezing temps. I have also found that too much fertilizer produces too much green growth at the expense of bloom.

I do have a microclimate here, with heat retaining rock ridges, very dense forest, and lake effects from lake Nipissing, so I believe this has a lot to do with the success of plantings outside their recommended zones.

I would say, try to find a great protected position for one, and try one out. Plant early, so good root growth can be established before the first hard frost, and see what happens. I have friends in Wawa that loved one of the catalpa's here, but are rated zone 5-6, so were disappointed they couldn't grow it where they lived. I gave them seed from the tree, and lo and behold, they have a beautiful specimen in their backyard, so you never know